New Delhi: Amid calls, including from some BJP functionaries, to boycott Bollywood star Deepika Padukone's upcoming movie Chhapaak for her visit to JNU, the Union government said on Wednesday that not just artistes, even a common man can go anywhere to express their opinion in a democracy like India.
Nobody objected to such expression of opinions, Union minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters when asked at a Cabinet briefing about Padukone's visit to the JNU on Tuesday to express solidarity with the students who were attacked by a mob.
About the call given by some party functionaries to boycott her upcoming movie, the minister said he had not read their remarks but sought to underscore the significance of his statement, saying he is stating so as a minister and a "permanent" BJP spokesperson.
"This country is a democracy. Why only artistes, even a common can go anywhere and express his opinion," the Information and Broadcasting minister said.
To questions about violence in JNU where masked people attacked students on Sunday night, Javadekar expressed confidence that the ongoing police probe will "unmask" the accused and asserted that violence has no place in a "mature democracy" like India.